Why Mike Zimmer could be the missing ingredient that finally takes the Cowboys places
We are only one game in, but Mike Zimmer looks exactly like what the Cowboys defense.
The Dallas Cowboys might have struck gold with this Mike Zimmer thing. We know, it’s just one game. Let’s see how things go before we get too excited. Your skepticism is understood.
And it’s not as if they just dominated a top NFL offense. They didn’t. The Cleveland Browns were without their starting tackles so the table was set for them to have their hands full. And Deshaun Watson may be one of the easier quarterbacks in the league to rattle. When he’s good, he’s good, but when he’s bad, he’s... well, you get it. The offensive line and the quarterback play were terrible for the Browns on Sunday.
They didn’t manhandle an offensive juggernaut. Instead, they manhandled a vulnerable offense but manhandled nonetheless. This still came as a surprise to us because there were so many questions on this Cowboys defense. The team entered the new season with far fewer pass-rushing options than the year before. Where was the pass rush going to come from? They were down a starting corner and had to rely on a fifth-round rookie. That has to be a nightmare waiting to happen, right? And they completely remodeled their linebacker group, starting two new players who didn’t play for them last season.
All these things painted a picture that could’ve gone bad for them on Sunday, especially when you factor in that the Cowboys’ offense didn’t do a whole lot. But the defense came through in a big way and they confused the dickens out of their opponent.
The Cowboys were very disruptive on Sunday, but it wasn’t just because they had stars making plays. It was a collective effort that featured smart play, consistent, with no let up. The Cowboys' defense was extremely well-coached and the results were outstanding.
Staying on the reservation
One of the biggest differences between Dan Quinn’s defense and Mike Zimmer’s is the way they attack. Quinn likes his guys to get after the quarterback. He’s creative with the stunts he employs in his pass rush and takes a very aggressive approach. It’s provided many splash plays for the defense over his tenure in Dallas.
Zimmer goes about things a little differently. He expects his guys to stick to their assignments. Rather than taking off in pursuit, they’re reacting. They’re following their instructions and never going off script. This discipline allows them to keep things in front of them and prevent the big play. As good as the Cowboys' defense has been under Quinn, they’ve been victimized before by taking the bait, but these mental mistakes weren’t present on Sunday.
Simulated pressure
So much is made of Zimmer’s double-A mug where his linebackers line up over the A-gap as if they are going to rush. This puts a lot on the offense to figure out where its protection should come from. Just that little delay where the offensive line has to determine where they need to go is all the actual rushers need to get a jump on the blocker. And when you don’t square up on a player like Micah Parsons or DeMarcus Lawrence, you’re in big trouble.
The Cowboys pressured Watson 25 times on 56 dropbacks. The pressure came from all directions. Sometimes they blitzed, most times they didn’t. You could see Watson break the pocket even before pressure was right up on him. He spent all afternoon running and six times the Cowboys caught up to him. The defense's ability to keep the offense guessing made it extremely hard on the Browns.
Everyone does everything
The other thing that stood out with this defense is how often the Browns ball carrier would be stopped in their tracks. Running plays went next to nowhere and short passes remained short passes. This is a reactive defense and once the Browns decide where to go with the ball, the Cowboys attack. So many times in this game, a defender in the closest proximity would react quickly and make open-field tackles.
This is only possible if the unit is dynamic enough to handle multiple roles. For example, Jourdan Lewis is an outstanding tackler. He’ll come off his man to take out a ball carrier without batting an eye. Eric Kendricks can go from pass-rush to pass-coverage in a heartbeat. And DeMarcus Lawrence can run down any ball carrier from any point on the field. The dude is the epitome of relentless. When you look at the versatility of these guys, they offer so much. So yeah, a lot of the credit belongs to Zimmer, but the coach is also very fortunate to inherit a talented group with a wide range of skills.
It’s easy to tell ourselves to slow our roll after one game. We’ll wait for a tougher assignment before we get too excited. But we should also take a moment to consider the notion that Zimmer adds a level of complexity to the defense that they haven’t had in a long time. For years, the Cowboys have only gone as far as their talent took them. They’ve had talent but would be out-schemed when push came to shove. Finally, they have a coaching advantage. Zimmer outschemes his adversaries. Combine this with some great talent on defense and this team is going places.
Cowboys fans should be really happy right now.
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